Probation, fines ordered in case of illegal landfill

Three Centre Twp. men who pleaded guilty to environmental crimes have been ordered to pay fines and to serve probations.

On March 23, Blair County Judge Timothy Sullivan ordered Frederick D. Thebes, 63, to pay $300,000, to serve a seven-year probation and to perform 100 hours of community service.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Coffey also asked Sullivan to order Thebes to comply with clean-up actions as ordered by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Sullivan handled the case because Perry County judges recused themselves.

Thebes' sons, Christopher, 41, and Douglas, 37, pleaded guilty to seven counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act and also were ordered to comply with the DEP order.

In addition, Christopher Thebes was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and to serve two years probation. Douglas Thebes was ordered to serve one year of probation and to pay a $30,000 fine.

At Fred Thebes' sentencing, defense attorney P. Richard Wagner told Sullivan that he received 60 letters in support of his client.

"I know what I did was wrong," Fred Thebes told the court. "I'll try to make it right in the future.'

Three people requested that Fred Thebes not serve any jail time, but that he instead be sentenced to probation and to perform community service.

"Within the last year, the formerly physically vigorous Fred Thebes I knew is now an old man," longtime friend Roy Chandler said on Thebes' behalf, citing Thebes' health issues.

Sullivan said he wouldn't look at the case in a vacuum, but took into consideration Thebes' age and that he had no prior criminal record.

"This is the most letters of support I've ever seen," the judge told Thebes. "You should be appreciative that (those who wrote) reached out.'

The Fred Thebes-owned trash hauling business, Dynamite Disposal Inc., was the primary waste hauler for the county until 2007, when DEP ordered the company to cease operation after reports of illegal dumping were turned over to the Office of the Attorney General. Christopher and Douglas were employees of the business.

In July 2007, the state Attorney General's office arrested and charged Fred Thebes and Dynamite Disposal Inc. with 12 counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act and four violations of the Clean Streams Law.

The Attorney General's office alleged that between May 1993 and March 2007, the Thebeses illegally buried solid waste on their Centre Twp. property between McKeehan, Laurel Grove and Cold Storage roads.

At Fred Thebes' sentencing, Kerri Fleming, a solid waste specialist with DEP, estimated there were 41,200 cubic yards of waste buried on the property. Coffey said DEP inspectors found six to 12 "pits' on the property.

Wagner asked if 3,050 to 4,000 tons of waste that were part of a permitted dump site Thebes had on the property were figured into the calculations. Fleming said she was unsure.

The maximum sentence Thebes could have faced for the unlawful conduct charges was a fine of $25,000 for each day of violation, totalling more than $1 million. Additionally, Thebes faced a maximum imprisonment of seven years.

For the Clean Stream Act violation, Thebes will be fined $50,000, and could have faced up to seven years in prison.

In October 2007, DEP fined Thebes and his sons $5.7 million for the dumping.

A year later, Fred Thebes filed a $4.1 million civil suit against his sons, accusing them of not paying debts that caused his home to enter foreclosure.